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Thursday, October 27, 2005
October is BCAM
BCAM... Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Singapore's Breast Cancer Foundation is organising a drive-round treasure hunt this coming Sunday. Basically, we are supposed to dress up our car with the theme "Regular Breast Screening Saves Lives". We'll be given cryptic clues and riddles and we are required to look for answers en-route. We also need to participate in some games at the route check points etc. Penalty points will be given for wrong answers. And the team with the lowest penalty points will win. Sounds fun right? But the aim here is to raise the general public's awareness of breast cancer. So there'll be about 120 cars, all decked in pink ribbons and stuffs, going all over the island in a Amazing-Race styled game. This is the 2nd week in a row i'm going all over the country. Was at the briefing last night. The speaker, I didn't catch her name, was informative and very humourous. Showed us some of the previous years' photos. This is the 4th year BCF is organising such an event. SO she had plenty of amusing experience to share. We were also given Pink Ribbon collar pins to sell to help with the fund-raising. Four of us will be going together.. Gu, Leon, Anthony and I. Gu is the driver, Leon the navigator, Anthony and I will help to solve clues. It so happened that the four of us stay in four different parts of the island. I'm on the east so I'm familiar with that area. And since I go to construction sites very often, I know quite a number of out-of-the-way areas. Gu stays in the northern part and he's a real-estate guy. He definitely knows his way around in Singapore. His ways may not necessary be the most direct routes but he'll get there eventually. Leon stays in the western part and Anthony in the southern part and both of them work near the central area! So there you go. We probably won't get lost as long as we can manage to solve the riddles. I'm looking forward to this event. I'll be bringing a camcorder and perhaps I could create a reality show of some sort! It'll be fun! Labels: Health
Wednesday, October 26, 2005
CPM2005 cont'd....
Gu, aka klang, complained that I didn't give him credit. Ok... let's go back in time a little.. Gu and I have known each other since 1996. (We met through internet chat rooms. Weird.. but online friendships do exist! But I'll talk about this in a separate blog.) Both of us are very interested in photography. In 2003, I learnt about the Canon Digital Photomarathon and signed up for it. Gu didn't. But on the actual day 18 Oct 03, he was free and decided to join me. He offered to be my chauffeur-porter-companion-advisor-moral-supporter and actually stayed with me for the entire day. We had lots of fun that day and till now we still talked the experience. The combined effort paid off. I won the grand prize for my entry and I thought it was only fair that I shared my prizes with him. (Which was why some of the organizers remembered me. They were probably shocked that I was willing to give away the EOS300D DSLR! *LOL*) This sort of started the collaboration between us. Last October Gu signed up for the competition too. But we worked as a team with the understanding that we would share the prizes if either of us win. This year it's the same. Here comes the credit part..... Because I had to run off for the concert, Gu completed the last leg of the event by himself. He submitted my shot on my behalf. He also stayed back to see the selected shortlisted winning shots. He was alone since Edwin & Leon left soon after submitting theirs. Not too sure when the entire thing ended but probably around 10.30pm. So while I was enjoying myself at the concert, the poor guy was back at the hall, analysing all the shortlisted photographs, studying the wow factors of the selected shots. And I knew he felt lonely because he kept sending me messages via sms. The next day, we actually discussed some of the shots and how we could improve. Now, that's what I call dedication! This year we thought we would disregard the 1st thoughts that come to our minds upon receiving the assignments. Why? Because those ideas would probably occur to the rest of the competitors. So strategy for next year.. shoot whatever ideas that come immediately to mind. Cos those would be disregarded by the rest! *LOL* Boy! I really love this event! Hopefully the rest had fun too! Labels: Photography
Tuesday, October 25, 2005
Canon Photomarathon 2005 ....
Well.. we survived the 12-hour photomarathon session held last Saturday. I had a bit of headache next day though. Probably didn't drink enough water. Leon, Edwin, Gu and I were there. Jamieson had to go back office (poor thing) and Anthony couldn't get away from his newborn baby. Registration started at 7.45am and there was already a long queue when I got there. We each collected a free photo-vest embroidered with Canon EOS logo. This is my 3rd photo-vest since this the 3rd photomarathon I've taken part in. According to the organizers, 720 people signed up online but i think in the end only 550 people turned up which was still a lot. Spoke briefly to Helen, the Assistant News Editor of The Straits Times and was pleasantly surprised that she remembered me. She even asked her colleague to interview me. Too bad I couldn't stay back. Had to rush off to complete the assignment. Last year there were 3 of us and we had to rush to 3 places for every theme so that we wouldn't submit similar entries. But we ended up driving around the whole country, Amazing-Race-style. I was so tired that I didn't really enjoy the event at all. This year I wasn't keen to repeat that. So, Gu and I went in one car whereas Leon & Edwin joined forces. That way we could cover more 'areas'. Here's what I've submitted... drum roll please!  The themes were World in Motion, Child's Play and Fashion in Action. Gu and I were trying to 'think out of the box', i guess we might have overdone that 'out-of-the-box' part. It would take a genius to figure out the relevance of our shots to the themes assigned. *LOL* My entry for the last theme was quite lame. I wasn't thinking much about the theme. Kept checking my watch to make sure I had enough time to rush home for a quick shower and then to Eric Johnson's live concert. I left Gu at about 6.30pm and poor guy had to proceed without me. Other than the photographs I submitted there were quite a number of shots taken during the marathon that I liked.  (note.. the blurry figure in white next to the slippers was actually Gu walking in slow motion for me. In fact I made him walked back and forth in many of my shots!)Little India is really full of photo opportunities. If you ever come to Singapore, you really must visit Little India. Better yet, call me and I'll bring you to try some of the interesting Indian food. ok I'm digressing. I kind of like the one with the glasses framing a mirror. That is me in the mirror, of course. Too bad I didn't win anything, not even a merit. Still I enjoyed myself. So I'll still be going for next year's photomarathon and collect my 4th vest!
Will talk about Eric Johnson's concert tomorrow. Too sleepy now. Cheerio! Labels: Photography
Friday, October 21, 2005
Canon PhotoMarathon 2005
Tomorrow's the photo-marathon. Packed my camera & lenses and getting myself mentally prepared for the 12-hour non-stop photo-shoot. The top prize is a EOS20D DSLR + G5 iMac! Wow the new iMac is really something! About 600 contestants have signed up. So it's going to be a tough fight. Anyway this year i'm not going to worry about the prizes. I'm determined to have fun. Will be going to Eric Johnson's concert tomorrow night. I got tickets to the first row. I hope he plays Cliffs of Dover! ok.. better sleep now. Long day ahead! Wish me luck! Labels: Photography
Thursday, October 20, 2005
Bond.. James Bond
So. Daniel Craig is the next James Bond. Now who on earth is Daniel Craig? That name doesn't ring a bell at all!
Let's see. My very first James Bond movie was Sean Connery's, followed by Roger Moore. Didn't see that single movie by George Larzenby. Then there was Timothy Dalton and Pierce Brosnan. My favorite Bond is still Roger Moore. He's charming, witty, good-looking, sexy and do i love his one-liners! I think most would consider Sean Connery the perfect Bond. But I find him too gritty. I didn't like Timothy Dalton's version too. He was almost as evil as the villians. I like Pierce Brosnan's. His was a mixture of Connery and Moore.. Brosnan was the charming gentleman but he looked rather worn out. If only he had become a Bond earlier. Remember reading somewhere he couldn't take up the role because of some contractual issues, which was a waste, really.
One other thing. Do the actors' names somehow kind of play a part in determining whether he would be a successful Bond? Try saying the following with a deep voice and with a bit of a drawl..
Sean Connery is (slight pause) James Bond... repeat for Roger Moore, George Larzenby, Timothy Dalton, and Pierce Brosnan
See what i mean? Only Larzenby's name didn't go down well with James Bond. Actually Craig's too. So does that mean... ? hmm... I must be bored out of my mind to even suggest this... Lunch break's over! Labels: TV/Movies
Wednesday, October 19, 2005
Handbrake
Not the one in the car, but the neat freeware for converting DVD into Mpg4. It's easy to use and works beautifully. I'm using G4 Pbook, 1.5GHz, Mac OSX 10.4, 768MB and set the system for optimised performance. I downsized the DVD into 368x204 clips. Audio is fixed at 128kbps but varied the average bitrate. The few combinations i've tried were, - Ave. bitrate 500 kbps with 2-pass encoding : excellent
- Ave. bitrate 500 kbps without 2-pass encoding : good
- Ave. bitrate 400 kbps with 2-pass encoding : good
- Ave. bitrate 400 kbps without 2-pass encoding : ok
- Ave. bitrate 300 kbps with 2-pass encoding : no good
- Ave. bitrate 300 kbps without 2-pass encoding - major pixelisation
Perhaps it's my system, but i only managed to get about 14 fps on average during conversion even with no other programs running in the background. With 2-pass encoding, the time required is doubled, typically to around 1 hr for evey 10 mins of video. But comparing the difference i rather stick with the 2-pass. Visible improvement. Dropping bitrate to anything below 350 kbps will be a waste of time. That is, unless the show doesn't contain any high action scenes. I've tested with one of the CSI episode, and ended up with big chunky blocks during the fast scenes. Using 500 kbps & 2-pass, the resulting file size is 200MB for a 43 min show and took 4 hrs to encode. Think i'll be ripping my entire DVD collection (which isn't much) into Mpg4. Great for backups and it beats carrying all that DVDs when travelling. Labels: Tech
Tuesday, October 18, 2005
Welcome to the world!
Merc's baby girl arrived today at 10.18am! Welcome little Shannon!
Monday, October 17, 2005
Fittness
 I gave myself a birthday present... a membership at Amore Fittness Center! I went for my first low-impact aerobic session yesterday. The fashion is quite different. It's a lot more casual now. Track pants and active wear tops. No longer leotards and tights. Phew! Lucky for me. Can't imagine myself in a leotard now. I'll look totally ridiculous! Yesterday was my 1st session in more than 12 years and I'm feeling the effects now. I'm aching all over. Which is in a way good. It shows that I'm working those stiff muscles. Actually, I felt pretty good after the session. I have drawn out a simple exercise plan. I'll be doing a combination of aerobics, in-door cycling, outdoor brisk-walking and in-line skating on a weekly basis. I think this is much better than starving myself. Monday night - brisk walking (45 mins) Tuesday lunch hr - aerobics (1 hr) Wednesday night - cycling (30 mins) Thurdsay - rest Friday night - brisk walking (45 mins) Saturday morning - inline skating (1 hr)
It's not too ambitious so I think I should be able to adhere to it. Wish me luck!! Labels: Health
Saturday, October 15, 2005
In preparation for iPod Video
Well.. not that i've decided to get it... yet. But i like to be prepared. Thanks to Darth, I went through the DVD-to-iPod process. It's quite easy. But you probably want to do a bit of trial & error to find a suitable compromise between quality & time. Basically you'll need 2 softwares - MacTheRipper & Handbrake. My first attempt. To rip Monty Pathon's Holy Grail, video duration is about 1.5 hr. Step 1 : MacTheRipperInsert DVD & run MTR To go Mode tab, select Main Feature Extraction Click on Go and select temporary destination of ripped video Ripping process begins (you can go make yourself a cup of coffee and read your newspapers) Click on Close once ripping completes and eject DVD
(this took me about 30 mins and used up about 5GB of disk space)
Step 2 : Handbrake
Click on DVD Folder/Image & enter directory where you saved the video files In that directory, select subdirectory named VIDEO_TS Click Open In Destination section, set file format to MP4, codecs to AVC/H.264 Video/AAC Audio For File, enter name you want for your new video clip In Video section, set Quality to Average bitrate of 400kbps In Audio section, set preferred language, set Sample rate to 48000Hz, set Bitrate to 128kbps Under Picture settings, select Keep aspect ratio and choose width Click Rip
(It'll probably be a good time to go to bed, do some shopping or something. It's a long wait.) When encoding is completed, you can delete the VIDEO_TS folder. Handbrake 0.7 How-To has a nice tutorial if you want more info. I set my average bitrate to 500kbps, size to 423x240 and chose the 2-pass encoding. A 2-pass encoding gives better quality but it'll double the time required. So with my above settings, it took almost 9 hrs to complete the entire process. The resulting file is about 375MB. The quality is fantastic. But I'm not sure I want to leave my computer on for such a long time just to produce a movie to transfer to a iPod. I'm testing with other settings right now. Think I'll forget about the 2-pass thing. And since I don't have an iPod, i'll try to transfer to my cell phone instead. But 375MB is way too large. Let's see what i can do about that. Labels: Tech
Sci-Fi Canon
so.. this is the Sci-fi Canon list? i'm supposed to bold those i've seen. Arethusa and Darth did their Sci-Fi Flick Expert Level check. Now, let's see how i fare... The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension! (huh?) Akira Alien - my 1st movie date with my now-husband-then-boyfriendAliensAlphaville - forever young... i want to be forever young.... nope! haven't seen thisBack to the FutureBlade Runner - love it!Brazil Bride of Frankenstein Brother From Another Planet A Clockwork Orange Close Encounters of the Third KindContact The Damned Destination Moon The Day The Earth Stood Still Delicatessen Escape From New YorkET: The ExtraterrestrialFlash Gordon: Space Soldiers The Fly (1985 version) - my 2nd movie with my now-husband-then-boyfriend..wait a sec.. why all the scary shows?Forbidden Planet Ghost in the ShellGojira/Godzilla - does the original Japanese show count? cos i didn't watch the US versionThe IncrediblesInvasion of the Body Snatchers (1956 version) - this is one of creepier shows i've seenJurassic ParkMad Max 2/The Road Warrior - fell in love with Mel GibsonThe MatrixMetropolis On the Beach Planet of the Apes (1968 version) RobocopSleeper Solaris (1972 version) Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan Star Wars Episode IV: A New HopeStar Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes BackThe Stepford Wives SupermanTerminator 2: Judgement DayThe Thing From Another World Things to Come Tron12 Monkeys 28 Days Later 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea 2001: A Space OdysseyLa Voyage Dans la Lune War of the Worlds (1953 version) 24 out of 50. Ok. I fail.... did i mention i am not a sci-fi kind of person? (2 blogs within a day! I'm on a roll here *LOL*) afternote....Edwin just messaged me today. Apparently i got mixed up. Alien was shown way before my ex.boy.friend.now.husband started dating. So it was Alien(2) we watched. So my score currently stands at 23/50.Labels: Games
Thursday, October 13, 2005
Today's Snippets
#1 Apple annouced it's video ipod. Merc was so excited about it and sent me a sms at 7.28am today. Luckily it's a weekday else I'll kill him! My 20G U2 ipod is barely a year old and don't think i can justify replacing it so soon. (But then again, since when does ipod needs justification?) Not too sure about this ipod video. The screen is only about 2.5" which is kind of small for decent video viewing. But any larger, the ipod will become too bulky. It's cool to be able to download video & TV shows from itune store. But the problem is itune store service is still not available here! I really don't know what is holding them back. So to watch video clips on the ipod, I'll have to transfer from DVDs etc to the computer, convert it to correct format and then transfer it into the ipod. Well it's just too much trouble. I already have a portable DVD player so it really doesn't make sense for me to buy the new ipod now. At least not for the time being. But I wouldn't mind if someone give me one for Christmas!! #2 Breast Cancer Foundation is organising a BCF-Mazda Pink Ribbon Treasure Hunt on 30 Oct 05. This is one of the Breast Cancer Awareness Month events. There's a $35 per person fee but all proceeds will go to the foundation fund. Merc, Leon, Gu and I have just signed up as a team. We're supposed to drive around, collect clues, solve them and get to the final destination. Sort of like a mini-Amazing Race. Never taken part in these type of events before. Should be fun. And I'll be taking photos. There's also a best-dressed car contest before the race. Will have to think of how to do up the car with the BCAM theme in mind. We are supposed to drive around with the decorated car hence spreading the message. It's for a good cause. I checked out the prizes... 1st prize is "Toshiba 42in plasma TV and $300 Shell petrol vouchers". How on earth are we going to split the prizes (assuming we will win)? #3 My hubby bought a bike trainer attachment for my racer. Said I could train at home till I'm comfortable with the bike before going on the roads. I tried it. 20 mins on the bike and I was bushed. I'm definitely out-of-shape. I wonder if I have enough will-power to cycle every night..... nah.... #4 Didn't pack the book shelves last night. Guess my guilt has deserted me! :P #5 15 Oct this Saturday and I'm turning, ahem (never ask a girl's age). I'm always the one organising birthday gatherings, buying birthday cakes, presents etc. But when it comes to my own birthday... *sniff* #6 My clerk just handed me a Traffic Offence Notice. Phew! not for me. Apparently my boss went through a red light and was caught by the speed camera. $200 fine with 12 demerit points. ouch!
Tuesday, October 11, 2005
Dull women have immaculate homes
1. I'm creative; you can't expect me to be neat too!
2. So this isn't Home Sweet Home... Adjust!
3. Ring Bell for Maid Service...If no answer do it yourself!
4. I clean house every other day.... Today is the other day!
5. If you write in the dust, please don't date it!
6. I would cook dinner but I can't find the can opener!
7. My house was clean last week, too bad you missed it!
8. A clean kitchen is the sign of a wasted life.
9. I came, I saw, I decided to order take out.
10. If you don't like my standards of cooking...lower your standards.
11. You may touch the dust in this house...but please don't write in it!
12. Apology...Although you'll find our house a mess, Come in, sit down, converse. It doesn't always look like this: Some days it's even worse.
13. A messy kitchen is a happy kitchen, and this kitchen is delirious.
14. If we are what we eat, then I'm easy, fast, and cheap.
15. A balanced diet is a cookie in each hand.
16. A clean house is a sign of a misspent life.
17. Help keep the kitchen clean - eat out.
18. Countless number of people have eaten in this kitchen and gone on to lead normal lives.
19. My next house will have no cupboards, just vending machines.
20. Dull women have immaculate homes.  That means I've got to be one of the most interesting women around! *LOL* *ROTF* oh boy! I'm not lazy. It's just that I'm so tired at the end of every day that I really don't want to spend that last, precious couple of hours cleaning the house. Often when I get calls from friends saying they would be poping over, it would be a mad rush bringing all the unfolded clothes from our sofa into the bedroom onto our bed. Then it would be another mad rush around the house, straightening stuffs, stacking dishes back into the cabinets, a quick dusting to get rid of the layer of dirt covering the TV and everything else. But usually at the end of it, the house becomes reasonably presentable (so long as my guests don't open the wardrobes). Then again, there are days when I go into a cleaning frenzy. I'll be scrubbing kitchen, cleaning toilets, vacuuming the entire house and all that washing. So overall I managed maintain the home in some tolerable level of cleanliness  I'm not a very organized person. My books are stacked up on the floors because my book shelves are overflowing. My CDRs are mostly unlabelled, and stacked in those plastic 100-CD containers. I think the only organized items in my house are my photo equipment, all arranged nicely in the 2 dry cabinets. Even then, the other accessories, batteries, cables, chargers are all stuffed into the drawers. Sometimes I'm really amazed that I could even find anything. No wonder I have a hard time getting the kids to clean their room. My hubby doesn't complain but lately I've been feeling rather guilty. So last night I started out sorting through my stacks of CDRs. I've a lot of CDs containing stuffs I downloaded, my digital photographs, video clips and more than half of the CDs are unlabeled. yikes! I don't know what got into me but I stayed up still almost 2am this morning sorting through them. So now I've a 2nd well-organized spot in the house. Tonight I think I'll tackle my book shelves. Let's see how much things i can get done before my feeling of guilt goes away!  Labels: Health
Monday, October 10, 2005
Where on earth are you?
I downloaded Google Earth a couple of weeks ago. Played around with it for a while. It was quite fun and I didn't really give it much further thought until I read this Sunday's papers. The authorities are worried about terrorists threats and how the information from Google Earth and other similar map software might be used by terrorists. With the recent bombings, I don't think they are being paranoid.
The article sort of prompted me to take a closer look at our country's map in Google Earth. I could see our international airport, oil refineries at Jurong Island, shipping ports at Pasir Panjang... whoa! seems like all important landmarks are there. Hmmm... I wonder what will the authorities be doing about this. Block out critical locations perhaps? But I also realised that the satelite photos are not that recent, probably taken at least a year ago. Works at Marina Bay has already started more than a year but that wasn't reflected in the photos.  I tried to search for my home. I found it. And guess what? There's a big, white, fluffy cloud covering at the exact spot where my block is! See the picture I attached here? It just directly underneath that cloud at the center of the pic! hahaha! Btw today is "Use-your-honk-wisely Day" (honk? heehee). Our radio station DJs are doing their part for public service. They come out with a new tagline every morning... we had "Look-out-for-other-road-users Day", "Keep-a-safe-distance Day", "If-u-drink-don't-drive Day". We do need that constant daily reminders. Labels: Tech
Wednesday, October 05, 2005
Bike Scare
It was a wet morning and I was on my way to work after dropping my hubby at the MRT station. Traffic was heavy as it was morning peak hour. I noticed this cool looking motorbike ahead of me in the next lane. I happened to be looking at the lady rider, amazed that she was able to handle such a huge bike. Then all of a sudden, she lost control of her bike! I saw sparks flew as the bike hit the bituman. The lady rider fell off, right onto my path! I braked hard. And it's amazing how many things ran through my mind in that instant. "Please let me stop in time!" "Is she ok?" "Oh no, truck behind me! Please don't ram into me!" "What's that thud I heard?" "Shit!! Another bike just hit my bumper." "That idiot!! He didn't even stop! WTF?"
I got out of the car to check on the girl and thank God she was alright. She looked a bit dazed but otherwise she was fine. Another biker stopped to help and we got her and her bike to the side of the road.
I was a bit irritated with the rest of the motorists. They all slowed down to stare but no one else rendered any other help. Some of them even looked annoyed. WTF?
After making sure she was ok, I finally checked on my car. The left corner of the bumper was slightly dislocated. One bike behind me didn't stop in time. He swerved but still hit my bumper. I banged on the bumper and sort of whacked it back into place. There were slight dents and some scratches. Nothing serious. I was quite upset. Not because of the car. I mean, the damage was very minor. But that moron should have stopped. Instead he sped off. Coward!!!!
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